Fence-mounted portable rack for refreshments, equipment, or accessories

ABSTRACT

Athletic fields, fairgrounds, parks, construction sites, and other informal outdoor venues often lack ample sheltered, level horizontal surfaces where patrons or workers may securely rest drinking vessels while they eat, exercise, shop, or work. However, vertical barriers such as fences, rails and boundary walls are often present. Variations on a durable, lightweight, versatile, portable open-work rack can be temporarily hung on such vertical barriers, used to hold any of a diverse range of drinking vessels, and removed without leaving a mark on the barrier. Both single- and multiple-vessel racks are stackable for compact storage. Besides drinking vessels, the racks can also support food containers such as fruit or yogurt cups, and other outdoor items such as small potted plants.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims a priority benefit from U.S. Provisional App.No. 61/453,495.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

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APPENDICES

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BACKGROUND

Related fields include dismountable racks, bottle racks, andwall-mounted supports for bottles and jars.

Many outdoor venues for sports, music, shopping, leisure, and work havefew or no tables, shelves, or other stable, level flat surfaces.Bleachers or benches are sometimes available, but these may becompletely occupied, constantly climbed over, or too uneven to stablysupport bowls or drink cups. Still, athletes, landscapers, constructionworkers, and the like must stay hydrated for safety and optimalperformance. In hot weather, the same is true of sidewalk vendors,festival-goers or -staffers, and sports coaches, referees, andspectators.

When patrons of these venues have refreshments, they typically need to“park” the refreshment containers temporarily, often multiple times,while they attend to other things. Finding a secure place to rest drinkscan be challenging. Spilled drinks waste the consumer's money. Theyinconvenience or even endanger passersby when they make walking surfacesslippery or sticky, or attract insects such as wasps and flies. They mayspoil adjacent exhibits and vendors' wares. They place an extra clean-upburden on the owners of the location and of temporary structures takenaway from the location. Yet putting up more tables and shelves to keepclear just in case someone needs to park a drink seems an inefficientuse of space and material.

Therefore, a need exists for a way to park refreshment containers inoutdoor venues that will significantly reduce the chance of spillage,and will be easy to clean and sufficiently impervious to ambienttemperature, moisture, solar ultraviolet rays, mold, and mechanicalstresses such as shock, abrasion, tension, and compression. Because manyof these outdoor venues are subject to rearrangement, the drink-parkingapparatus is preferably portable and easily stored, or at leastreconfigurable. Because many of these venues are owned by cities,schools, churches or charitable organizations, the costs of producingand owning the drink-parking apparatus are preferably low.

Chain-link fences, other open-work structures such as picket or latticefences, and low walls are often found in these outdoor locations. Theyare seldom used as anything except barriers; they confine flying ballsand exclude loose animals or trespassers. Racks that hang from suchstructures are an appealing solution.

Although the basic concept of a portable rack to hang on a chain-link orsimilar fence has been explored in multiple variations, there is roomfor further improvement in user-friendliness, portability, durability,low maintenance, and versatility. For example, many hydrating drinks nowcome in boxes or pouches rather than bottles, cans, or glasses. Even theclassic cylindrical-footprint vessels now come in a greater variety ofheights and diameters than their antecedents.

SUMMARY

A streamlined openwork rack can be removably attached to a verticalbarrier such as a fence, rail, or wall by passing a pair of integralhooks through gaps in the barrier or over the top of the barrier, andallowing gravity to settle the rack in place. The rack holds a drinkingvessel (or an item of similar size and shape, such as a small foodcarton or plant-pot) securely yet accessibly.

The rack's bottom rail arrangement supports the base of the vessel.Front-corner columns, back-corner columns, and a front “bowed” sectionprevent the vessel from spilling. The vessels may be tapered oruntapered, with a fairly wide range of diameters and shapes; some rackembodiments also accept vessels with side handles, such as mugs. Manyembodiments are strong enough to hold insulated vacuum bottles, such asThermos®.

After use, the rack is easily detached from the vertical barrier andleaves no marks. Both single-vessel and multi-vessel racks are stackablefor compact storage and transport. The racks are preferably made of afairly stiff but somewhat springy material to extend the compatiblerange of vessel diameters and barrier thicknesses. Various rackembodiments may be made by 3-D fabrication or CNC wireforming, or byolder methods such as conventional bending and welding.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a top view, FIG. 1C is a sideview, and FIG. 1D is a front view, of a rack for a single drinkingvessel.

FIGS. 2A-2E show simple bending steps to form an example of thesingle-vessel rack.

FIG. 3 illustrates stacking of multiple racks.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate multi-vessel racks.

FIG. 5 illustrates a multi-vessel rack holding various kinds of drinkingvessels

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Desirable qualities in a portable holder for drinks include lightweight, durability, ease of cleaning, minimal need for cleaning, andadaptability to a range of drinking vessels (for example, cans, bottles,sports bottles, tumblers, or mugs). Preferably, the holder's appearanceis pleasing and multiple holders can be stored in a reasonably smallspace.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a top view, FIG. 1C is a sideview, and FIG. 1D is a front view, of a rack for a single drinkingvessel. Because the rack pictured here is symmetrical, the features arelabeled on only one side of each view; the corresponding features on theother side of each view are readily recognizable. Examples of vesselsthe rack can hold and structures it can hang from are outlined in thindashed lines. Alternate positions that parts of the rack may flex orstretch into during use are outlined in thicker dotted lines. Hooks 101pass through gaps in the lattice or mesh of a fence 121, or over the topof a fence (or thin wall) 122, and gravity settles them into place.Back-corner columns 102 hang down along the user's side of fence 121 or122. Bottom rails 103 support the vessel from below. Front bow 105stabilizes the vessel from the front. Front-corner columns 104 work withback-corner columns 102 to stabilize the vessel from the sides.

This open-work design is very easy to clean. Holders with solid wallsand bottoms catch and retain spills leaks, and dribbles from the drinksinside. There the liquid pools and dries (to a sticky residue that trapsdust and attracts insects, in the case of sweet or milky beverages). Ina car or near a vulnerable floor-covering such as high-end carpeting orunvarnished wood, this is preferable to letting the liquid escape, butoutdoors or in other informal settings a few drops on the ground hasless negative impact. A leak or spill in rack 100 will mostly pass rightthrough the gaps to the ground, and any liquid that does land on rack100 is easily wiped off. When stored, the open-work rack is also a lessfriendly environment for molds, insects, and rodents than a tunnel shapeenclosed on all but one side.

The sizes of the gaps between each of the corner columns 102 or 104 andits neighboring corner columns determine the maximum sliding-fitround-vessel diameter 130. Diameter 130 can be matched to a standardsize of can, bottle, glass, or vacuum bottle (e.g. Thermos®). Thespacing, angles, and any extra bends or spanning members of bottom rails103 determine a minimum round-vessel diameter 140 that will not fallthrough rack 100. Diameter 140 may be sized for popular slender vesselssuch as juice boxes or energy-drink cans. The difference betweendiameters 130 and 140 can alternatively be sized for a vessel that isnarrower at the bottom than the top; a disposable or reusable tumbler,or even a small flowerpot that can be hung decoratively from a gardenfence, arbor, or balcony rail. The open space between each back-cornercolumn 102 and the adjacent front-corner column 104 may be made wideenough to accommodate a handle 161 on a cup or mug 160—something thatthe unrelieved top rings or cylindrical bodies of many prior drinkholders do not allow.

Hooks 101 provide two coupling points to the fence 121 or wall 122, andallow rack 100 to be mounted or dismounted very quickly with a simplemotion of one hand. The absence of any more couplings or tensioningmembers, as most prior racks have, do allow rack 100 to pivot freelywith some limited amplitude in most directions if fence 121 or 122 isflexed. Many of the common mesh or chain-link fence types do flex orshudder if a person or weighty object leans on the fence, under gustywinds, or if hit by a ball or bat. A tightly coupled rack would flex orshudder along with the fence, taking the vessel with it but not theliquid inside the vessel; thus the liquid would tend to slosh out unlessthe vessel is capped. When fences 121 or 122 flex in most directions,the pivot allowance in the design of rack 100 lets gravity keep thevessel hanging straight down, rather than tilting with the fence. Thepivot allowance also damps the effect of fence shuddering at most(non-resonant) frequencies. Thus, where one might expect more spillsfrom vessels suspended from a pair of somewhat loose hooks 101 than fromtighter attachments at more points, the opposite is typically true.

Preferred materials for rack 100 are somewhat springy as well as strong.This allows hooks 102 to stretch over thicker walls 122, exertcompression to clamp on, and return to their original shape whendismounted. Springiness also allows front-corner columns 104 to tilt outand front bow 105 to open up into stretched position 115 and accommodatelarger vessel diameter 150. The restoring spring force compensates forthe front-heavy distribution of weight, and rack 100 returns to itsformer shape after the larger vessel is removed. Mild steel wire orbar-stock (for instance, 0.4-0.7 cm dia.), some types of work-hardenedmetal tubing, or glass-filled polymers (nylon, Delrin®,polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polycarbonate) similar to those used infishing rods, are non-limiting examples of such materials.

Rack 100 is preferably formed as a single piece for low cost, durabilityand streamlined appearance. Bending, threading, and multi-slideprocesses can be used for metal. For glass-filled polymers, the fillfibers can be shaped on mandrels or routed through channels beforecuring the polymer, so it cures into the desired shape, or rod stock maybe locally heated for bending. The finished rack may be covered toprotect both its core material and objects that come in contact with therack. Painting, plating, powder coating, and plastisol or vinyl coveringmay be used, or a heat-shrinking or cushioned flexible tubing. Ease ofcleaning is often a priority.

FIGS. 2A-2E show simple bending steps to form an alternative embodimentof the single-vessel rack. Although CNC wire-forming is faster, moreversatile, and has become economical for large quantities, the set-upcharge for small numbers of custom racks may be daunting. Any knownmethod of forming this type of material into this type of shape may beused' the bends can be imposed in any suitable order, or simultaneously.Front bow 205 (here shown as a V-shape with small-radius point 215, analternative to a section of a circle, ellipse, or parabola) is formedfirst (FIG. 2A). Allowing a suitable length for front-corner columns204, bottom rails 203 are formed next (FIG. 2B; here, the bottom railhas alternative extra bends for versatility; this structure more stablyholds non-rigid drink pouches). Front-corner columns 204 are then bentup out of the plane of bottom rails 203, and front bow 205 is bentforward and down out of the plane of front-corner columns 204 (FIG. 2C).Hooks 201 are formed on the ends of back-corner columns 202. (FIG. 2D).Finally, back-corner columns 202 are bent up out of the plane 202 toform the finished shape (FIG. 2E).

Groups that regularly do outdoor activities together, such as teams,families, classes and clubs, may prefer to transport and store multiplevessel-racks together, as may gardeners bringing numerous small pottedplants to sales and shows. Multiple single-vessel racks may be stackedtogether, as in FIG. 3. Note that embodiments with no taper angle α tofacilitate axial nesting (as seen in, for example, stacked paper cups)are nonetheless stackable if each rack added to the stack is offsetslightly from the axis of its neighbor. A fairly straight, compact stackcan be assembled by alternating the offset direction back and forth. Forinstance, here rack 300B is stacked on top of 300A, slightly off-centerto the left; then rack 300C is stacked on 300B slightly off-center tothe right.

Stackability that does not require a tapered silhouette is an advantage:Compared to a tapered holder with the same topmost diameter, anuntapered holder can admit larger untapered vessels without their“bottoming-out” short of the actual bottom of the holder.“Bottoming-out” shifts the center of gravity upward, making the vesselmore top-heavy for a potentially less-stable hold. In the illustratedrack 300C, a vessel of bottom diameter D seats on the rack's bottomrails. By contrast, if the rack had a taper angle α, the same vesselwould seat, less stably, at height H off the bottom rails.

If the racks have a non-slip coating, such as a vinyl dip, stacked rackswill tend to cling together until pulled apart. Nor is it difficult tointentionally pull the stacked racks apart for use; the openworkstructure substantially minimizes the contact area between the non-slipsurfaces, so there is “only just enough” static friction created to keepthe racks from sliding apart by themselves.

Another approach to holding multiple vessels on a fence or wall is tomake compound, multi-vessel racks by joining together two or more of thesingle-vessel racks side-by-side. Since all the hooks in the compoundrack engage and disengage simultaneously, set-up and tear-down of theracks for a sizable event is faster.

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate a few non-limiting examples of compoundmulti-vessel racks. Although the examples shown are 3-vessel racks,these techniques will work for any suitable number. In FIG. 4A,neighboring front-corner columns 404 may simply be bonded to each otherby seams 414. Depending on the rack materials, the bond may be achievedby welding, fusing, ultrasonic vibratory bonding, high-performanceadhesive, or any other suitable method. In FIG. 4B, separate clips,clamps, sleeves or bindings 424 may secure neighboring front-cornercolumns. FIG. 4B also shows protective tip-covers 411 over hooks 401.These prevent the ends of hooks 401 from scratching nearby surfaceswhile being transported. Alternatively, if the core material is not muchharder than its neighbors, or if the hook-tips are given rounded ends,or if the coating sufficiently cushions the hook-tips, or if some otherobviating factor is present, tip-covers may not be needed.

FIG. 4C illustrates an example multi-vessel rack formed from a singlecontinuous length of wire or other material Its manufacture may be morecomplex than the other examples, but is feasible through CNCwire-forming and other techniques. This embodiment can be made veryrugged because there are no vulnerable attachment points between thecomponent single-vessel racks. Here the doubling-over 421 at the tips ofhooks 401 obviates the risk of scratching nearby objects. The two freeends 406 are preferably secured alongside another section of the rack.In the illustration, free ends 406 are secured to the outermostfront-corner columns 404. However, other alternatives, such asterminating ends 406 at a shorter length and securing them to bottomrails 403, are also feasible. Also, although the two cores of bottomrails 403 follow each other closely in this illustration, they mayalternatively diverge and re-converge to reduce the gaps in the bottomof the rack that slender or amorphous objects might otherwise slipthrough.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a “4-pack” rack in use, from the user's pointof view. Hooks 501 go through gaps in fence 521. Bottle 540, can 530,mug 560, and juice-box 570 all rest on bottom rails 503. Handle 561 ofmug 560 is accommodated by placement at an end of the multi-vessel rack.

The preceding written description and the accompanying drawings areintended solely as representative examples. Only the appended claims andtheir equivalents define the scope of the protected inventionvariations.

1. A rack, comprising: a hook, a back column connected to the hook, abottom rail connected to the back column, a front column connected tothe bottom rail, and a front bow connected to the front column, wherethe hook is configured to secure the rack to a rim or opening of avertical structure, and the back column, bottom rail, front column, andfront bow are configured to temporarily hold an object.
 2. The rack ofclaim 1, further comprising empty spaces, large enough to admit multiplefingers of a hand, between the back column and the front column andbetween the back column and the front bow.
 3. The rack of claim 1,further comprising an empty space, open at the top, between the frontcolumn and the back column, wide enough to admit the handle of a cup ormug.
 4. The rack of claim 1, where the bottom rail is convex andsufficiently slender to discourage water and liquids of similarviscosity from pooling thereon.
 5. The rack of claim 1, where outersurfaces of the back column, bottom rail, front column, and front boware nonporous and nonreactive to common cleaning solutions.
 6. The rackof claim 1, further comprising a second hook.
 7. The rack of claim 6,where the hook and the second hook may be pulled away from each other toprovide a temporarily wider spacing, and will return to their originalpositions when tension is released.
 8. The rack of claim 1, where thefront and back columns are parallel.
 9. The rack of claim 1, where thefront and back columns diverge at a taper angle from bottom to top. 10.The rack of claim 9, where the taper angle is configured to enablenested stacking of an identical rack.
 11. The rack of claim 10, wherethe hook is formed with a taper to further facilitate the nestedstacking.
 12. The rack of claim 1, where the bottom rail is multiplybent to stabilize objects of multiple sizes and shapes.
 13. The rack ofclaim 1, where the hook is configured to let the object swing free undergravity if the vertical structure changes its angle relative to theground.
 14. A method of making a rack, comprising: enabling a length oflinear stock to bend, bending a front bow, forming a pair of bottomrails, bending a pair of front-corner columns between the bottom railsand the front bow, bending the front bow out of a plane of thefront-corner columns, bending a pair of hooks away from the bottomrails, and bending a pair of back-corner columns between the bottomrails and the hooks.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprisinghardening the linear stock after bending.
 16. The method of claim 14,where the linear stock comprises at least one of rod stock, tube stock,or helical stock.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprisingtreating a surface of the linear stock to make the surface at least oneof: non-porous, chemically inert, cushioned, dent-resistant,abrasion-resistant, weather-resistant, and decoratively colored orpatterned.
 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising repeating thebending steps to form multiple sets of front bows, bottom rails,front-corner columns, back-corner columns, and hooks from a continuouslength of the linear stock.
 19. The method of claim 18, where themultiple sets are left attached to each other to form a multiple-objectrack.
 20. A means for suspending an object, comprising: means forcoupling the suspending means to a rim of, or an opening in, a verticalface or a structure, means for supporting the object from below, andmeans for stabilizing the object on three sides, where the couplingmeans is flexible in at least one direction to accommodate variations inthickness and form-factor of the structure, and the stabilizing means isflexible in at least one direction to accommodate variations in shapeand size of the object.